MySpace Becomes the New Iowa
What We’re Seeing: In this election season, we can see how much politicians are doing an end-around traditional news media to reach citizens directly and tell their story (or their opponents’) more directly. They are using the tools of user-generated content and campaign-taken video. At the same time, innovative media are figuring out new ways to extend their own campaign reach, by hosting candidate blogs and learning the art of remixing and mashing video to create commentary.
In part, politicians are moving around media because they can, and because they have to.
- In a recent report, we can see that broadcast news is not a place voters can rely on for information. The study covered major media markets in five states, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. Its findings show that in the month following the traditional Labor Day kickoff of the 2006 election campaign season, television stations in nine Midwest markets devoted an average of 36 seconds to election coverage during the typical 30-minute local news broadcast. By contrast, the "typical early- and late-evening local news broadcasts contained more than 10 minutes of advertising, over seven minutes of sports and weather, and almost two and one half minutes of crime stories."
So politicians are finding ways to go direct:
- The MySpacing of politics: Politicians have begun to play in MySpace, telling their own stories directly to voters without the intervention of reporters or the difficulties of getting coverage. My Space’s new audience numbers show that its appeal extends increasingly beyond young non-voters. Politicians are learning that they can — and have to — go beyond policy prescriptions and provide get-to-know-me factoids on fave albums and vacations. John McCain has learned the lessons, and is also linking to simpatico videos like Lou Dobbs’ opining on illegal immigration. Dozens of other politicians are also learning the ropes this election season. Many more of them will migrate there in preparation for ’08, making MySpace, You Tube and other user-gen and sharing sites the new Iowa.
Beyond MySpace, campaigns are learning that broadcasters are not the only ones who can shoot — and distribute — video:
- “Attack” campaign video: The hotly contested Montana U.S. Senate race is the unlikely venue of this new wrinkle in the use of video in campaigning. According to the Wall Street Journal story, Andy Tweeten, who works for challenger Jon Tester, has a unique assignment. The 23-year-old staffer is on the road constantly, following incumbent Conrad Burns. Careful to video only official campaign events – not off-moments, Tweeten has managed to capture a handful of Burns gaffes, on everything from supposed taxi driver serial killers to "nice little Guatemalans". The videos, posted under Tweeten’s handle of Arrowhead 77 on YouTube have gotten 75,000 downloads – as compared to one-fifth that many for official videos posted by the Tester and Burns sites collectively. Just as important, the videos have made news in Montana papers, multiplying their political value. Video has long been part of a campaign’s arsenal, but usually in the form of tightly edited, highly polished, well-orchestrated 30-second spots. The Montana video, while decidedly partisan, brings an always-on, political-operatives-as-content-creators phenomenon to the new politics.
Not to be left out of the user-gen party, some papers are harnessing new social media platforms to provide politicians room to express themselves — under the newspaper’s brand:
- Rolling out the welcome mat to candidates’ blogs: Newspapers have long offered space for candidate op-ed pieces, and extra letters-to-the-editor space during the campaign season. Some have initiated special print/online ad packages, though these haven’t produced big dollars. Now the Austin American-Statesman, a Cox newspaper, has packaged a new program, using its blog-creating community software, powered by Pluck, to build out – and promote – a special candidates area. No more space restrictions – especially in an age in which some jurisdictions like California are charging candidates $20 per word for sample ballot statements. The web’s limitless nature brings a new dimension to coverage ruled in print by concern about equality of space or even-handedness in presentation. Statesman.com just lets candidates have at it, providing a wonderful source of information for political junkies and voters. The paper’s election coverage in print can do what it has always done. In this example, which we expect to see copied, the Web enables an important extension of the newspaper’s role in the campaign and in the community.
The Statesman offer to politicians is without cost, though it’s not hard to see a lucrative new business model developing here, as such venues become a must-do part of future campaigns. In fact, newspapers may grow these businesses by offering additional distribution beyond their own newspaper’s website. Other media are using new video mashing to provide commentary on campaign commercials themselves:
- Remixing campaign videos: Slate, powered by video enabler Brightcove, is re-mixing campaign ads. Essentially, it’s annotating them with comments or type overlaps or special effects in an effort to offer a different kind of commentary and another way to take on professionally packaged political ads. Such commentary reminds us there are other ways than text that news organizations can report and comment on the campaigns.
In Outsell’s Opinion: Of course, as the campaign winds down, the Mark Foley scandal reminds us how powerful digital communication can be. After all it was instant messages, magnified by web distribution that made that story. The increasing power of digital communication isn’t a lesson that is lost on politicians, and, importantly by those running media operations. It’s clear that publishers now need to harness the power of the Web, for political commerce and communication. Publishers can provide a big tent, much as they used to do, pre-TV, on the Internet. That tent can include their own expert coverage, unlimited space for politicians to explain and emote, and lots of opportunities for readers to respond and react.
Now is the time for publishers to start planning for 2008, and how they can provide a superior platform for political communication — best networked locally, regionally and nationally. Publishers need to have a “town hall” edge here – people expect news media to cover elections. Finding ways to house political communication – kudos to the Austin American-Statesman – is key. Distinguishing both free and paid political communication from the publisher’s journalism is a basic need and not difficult to do. Relating the two, though, with links helps take advantage of news media’s inherent strength and can be done without violating journalistic standards. Key to that planning is the basic inclusion of audio and video, as well as text.
Plainly, campaign video – official, as well as unofficial – has an audience interest. If YouTube is going to have it up, publishers can’t afford to pretend it doesn’t exist. Figuring out the rules of engagement, and display, here are trickier, but the work can and must be done.
The political news publishing lesson overall: think beyond text and still photos. Think community, and that means fully embracing the democratic power of video and the Web.